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New to the forum, looking to join the club

Hello there! My name is Charles and I've been a lurker here for a short while. I've been interested in DeLoreans since I was a kid, but I never knew much about them other than that one was in Back to the Future, and I liked the doors a lot. Now I'm a bit older and I realize that there is a lot more to like about the car than I recognized as a kid. I've been hoping to purchase a "project' car within the next couple of years and think this might be a candidate, but I have a lot of questions. A little background- I previously owned a 1966 Ford Mustang that I had intended to work to restore over the next several years. I bought it from a dealership about two years ago and overpaid for it. I hadn't done as much research as I would like to think I had done at the time and jumped at the opportunity to own one. It turned out that I had a lot of underlying rust and body issues that only came to light after an unfortunate accident at a stoplight. A woman rear-ended me and led to my car being totalled. Nobody was hurt, aside from my poor ride. Since then my wife and I agreed that if I look into another vehicle it must be a bit safer than the old Mustang, but I want something that is unique, looks cool, and that I can work on myself. I'm a huge fan of the 80's and I recently got to see Back to the Future all the way through (I'm ashamed to say I had only seen bits and pieces as a kid), and seeing the DeLorean on screen again sparked something in me.

This community seems to be a wealth of knowledge, and I would like to avoid repeating the mistakes I made last time. Do you have any advice for me, and do you think that this car is worth pursuing? Are there things I should know that perhaps only someone who has driven one would know? Like I said, I'm looking for something that I can work on as a bit of a project, but that I could conceivably use as a daily driver too, and I'd prefer a manual transmission. I imagine a lot of this will come down to condition, which is another area I could use some advice in- I've gathered that $30,000 to $40,000 seems to be the general price range that I can find currently, are there some specific items or conditions that warrant a higher or lower value?

I would greatly appreciate any thoughts, comments, and if there are some specific threads/topics that you think would be good places for me to poke around I'd be very thankful.

You joined the forum before getting your car. That's a good start. Better than doing it the other way around (like I did).

Best advice for you to learn about the cars is to read about them here (either old threads on common subjects, or new threads on current subjects), get in touch with local owners by going to car shows or events where you can talk to other owners, see the car in person and sit in one too just to make sure you fit, and lastly, have lots of patience when learning and looking.

You can buy the first one you see, but you don't need to feel compelled to. Owning these cars involves driving them (and enjoying that in whatever way you choose), working on them (there will be issues regardless of which one you buy), and dealing with the attention that comes with ownership. All three of those things can be equally challenging for any owner, and there's no one way to handle it that works for everyone.

I would advise spending your money on the best condition one that you can find on day one rather than spending less and buying one in poorer condition. And seek out a car that was stored or maintained well rather than strictly advertised as "running." If I got a redo, I would try and find one that gets driven for an hour every Sunday and not one with low miles or other descriptions. Cars that get driven regularly tend to have the issues worked out, or they wouldn't be getting driven like that.

I appreciate the responses so far! I will definitely check out that book, and I'm trying to reach out to folks in Virginia, see if I can see a few cars in the wild so to speak.

Right on. What brings you to Norfolk? I used to work for the GE/Ecolochem water business and they have a pretty big mobile fleet of water treatment trailers there. Nice place to go visit for a week or two. Especially when winter!

(I'm ashamed to say I had only seen bits and pieces [of BTTF] as a kid)

I've never seen Ghostbusters, I don't know what happens in any of the Terminator movies, and only know some important moments in Jurassic Park by hearing/reading about them.

Now with the shame out of the way, welcome to the forum! (And probably stares my way lol)

Biggest piece of advice I can give is this: if you're unsure on a car, ask us here. Share pics, descriptions, we can give you a good gauge on it. Biggest pitfall of DeLoreans tends to be frame rust. Stainless frames exist, but are pricey, often people will ride on the severe frame rust until they hit that right pothole and... I promise you: those are results you do not want to see. Usually catches owners by surprise too, the frame "looked good", but underneath all that paint is nothing but rust. We -- as a forum and as clubs -- are happy to help others avoid problems and do it right. And experiment a lot too. Mods are incredibly common here, from small and simple (replacing bulbs with LED's) to more complex (ProtoD comes to mind -- wonder what happened to that guy?)

Norfolk -- you're in that one part of the country that's far away from most of the main vendors. DPI in Tallmadge, OH / PJ Grady in Long Island, NY / DMCFL in Orlando, FL. Good news is there's a club for you, linked to by Ron in the first reply, and the club members are their own vendors at times. Ask about "tech days", I've never been to one but always wanted to, they're insane and unlike anything I've seen in any other car circle. And hey, maybe they'll let you attend one even without owning one, so you can see first hand what you're getting yourself into